Arendalsuka
The Arendalsuka ( German : Arendalswoche ) is a political event that has been held annually in the southern Norwegian city of Arendal since 2012 . It is considered the largest event of its kind in Norway .
History and process
The Arendalsuka was planned from 2009 through a private initiative based on the model of the Swedish Almedalsveckan , which had been carried out since the 1960s . After all, it should have been carried out for the first time in August 2011. Due to the attacks of July 22, 2011 , the planned week was canceled and the first edition took place in 2012. From then on, the Arendalsuka was held every year in the 33rd calendar week until 2019, but in 2020 it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic .
The event is financed roughly half by public funds and half by private sponsorship money. The visit is free for all people. During the event, public debates on various topics will be held by politicians, business representatives and other people. Aside from these arrangements, various parties and organizations operate stands on the event site, according to their own information there were 204 of them in 2019.
The week usually begins with a debate among the party leaders, broadcast on the state broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK). Election campaigns for elections that take place in autumn are now mostly initiated by the Arendalsuka.
The Arendalsuka describes itself as politically neutral. In 2019 the leadership of an organization banned ecumenical worship as part of the official program. The reason was that a service would exclude people without a Christian faith and would therefore not be suitable for the event. Nationalist parties and organizations such as the Alliansen or Sian were excluded from participation in the same year after other parties had previously announced boycotts.
criticism
The event is often criticized for giving financially strong organizations the opportunity to distinguish themselves. Ola Storeng , the former business editor of Aftenposten , described the event in 2016 as the “lobbyists' festival week”. In 2017, every third organization spent more than 100,000 crowns on their participation. In the study for the University of Oslo by Ketil Raknes and Dag Wollebæk it was pointed out that the Arendalsuka is used by organizations for lobbying and networking with politicians and the media.
The Senterpartiet -Politiker Trygve Slagsvold Vedum criticized in 2019, among other things, that public institutions such as universities, government agencies and ministries to participate with some high budget on the Arendalsuka.
Web links
- Official website (Norwegian, English )
- Arendalsuka in the store norske leksikon (Norwegian)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Jon Gelius: Arendalsuka avlyses. In: NRK. April 22, 2020, accessed on August 13, 2020 (Norwegian Bokmål).
- ↑ Arendalsukas historikk. Arendalsuka, accessed August 13, 2020 (Norwegian).
- ↑ Norway's biggest political debate Arendalsuka this year digitally in Oslo. In: BusinessPortal Norway. August 10, 2020, accessed on August 13, 2020 .
- ↑ a b Olav Garvik: Arendalsuka . In: Store norske leksikon . September 27, 2019 (Norwegian, snl.no [accessed August 13, 2020]).
- ↑ Erik Inderhaug: - Arendalsuka gikk fredelig for seg, men vi jobbet intenst i backdrop. In: Politiforum. September 5, 2019, accessed August 13, 2020 (Norwegian).
- ↑ Hans Christian Paulsen: Får ikke ha på gudstjeneste Arendalsuka. Vårt Land, August 2, 2019, accessed August 13, 2020 (Norwegian).
- ↑ Svein Sundsdal: Arendalsuka trekker tilbake til invitasjonen Alliansen. In: NRK. May 30, 2019, accessed on August 13, 2020 (Norwegian Bokmål).
- ↑ Ola Storeng: festuke Lobbyistenes. In: Aftenposten. August 18, 2016, accessed August 14, 2020 (Norwegian).
- ↑ Ketil Raknes, Dag Wollebæk: Deltakelse teller, ressurser avgjør . Ed .: Polkom. Oslo (Norwegian, squarespace.com [PDF]).
- ↑ Sofie Prestegård: Sp-Vedum: - Arendalsuka er en statsfinansiert elitefest. In: Dagsavisen. August 9, 2019, accessed August 13, 2020 (Norwegian).